When the University of Wisconsin’s State Surplus SWAP Shop needed to expand, their Wildeck® mezzanine platforms were ready to grow right along with them.

The SWAP Shop, which stands for Surplus With A Purpose, is part of the University of Wisconsin Material Distribution & Surplus Operations division. The role of the SWAP Shop is to collect, process and redistribute surplus property generated by two and four-year UW campuses and other state agencies.

As part of a master plan to consolidate resources and streamline operations, the state outlined goals for the SWAP Shop, which notably included:

• Building a new 101,000 square-foot facility in the Madison suburb of Verona

• Closing two smaller facilities

Following its own mission

Just as the SWAP Shop strives to redistribute surplus property, it followed its own mission by doing that same thing with some of its own equipment, relocating a Wildeck mezzanine platform from one of the closed facilities into the new building. The older mezzanine platform, which was installed in the late 1980s, had performed well and still had several serviceable years left, said Robin Nicholson, SWAP Shop Warehouse Supervisor.

“The Wildeck mezzanine platform, albeit more than 20 years old, works great for our needs, and we had no reason to replace it,” Nicholson said. “Relocating the structure was easy and cost-effective. We’ve had great success with Wildeck mezzanine platforms.”

Expanding capacity

Knowing he wanted to add a second mezzanine, Nicholson worked with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Purchasing Department to issue a formal bid for a new mezzanine. Storage and Handling Systems was awarded the contract for the construction of a new mezzanine. The plan for the new mezzanine platform was two-fold:

• First, the top level would be used for general storage, with a portion of space being rented out to other state agencies to accommodate their storage needs.

• Second, the lower level would serve as a library that would include a work station for processing incoming book orders and transfers.

Bill Berg, president, Storage and Handling Systems, said the structure was designed to both fit their immediate needs of storage and the library, but could also be expanded in the future to adapt to new applications and additional capacity.

“This was a pretty straight-forward design, but it met all of the client’s needs in terms of functionality, safety and appearance,” Berg said. “The project was on time, on budget, and working with Wildeck was very easy from our standpoint. That makes projects like this go smoothly.”

The new mezzanine platform also had a sprinkler system installed on the lower level to conform to state fire codes.

The University’s School of Music is using the older Wildeck structure for storage. The lower level is secured with fencing and used to store computers and other electronic equipment.

Both Wildeck mezzanine platforms are modular structures that can be disassembled and relocated to accommodate changing needs, whereas structures that are fixed in-place with concrete flooring cannot be moved.

The mezzanine platforms are exceeding expectations for Nicholson, and he’s very pleased with their performance. “I would certainly buy Wildeck again,” he said. “For what we need our mezzanine platforms to do, they do the job extremely well.”